Resonance of the cornerless

The idea of “cornerless”, or circle, plays a very important role in Chinese philosophy. In ancient China, people believe that the world was originated from T’ai-chi, which later on transforms into yin-yang, the mother of the sky and the earth. Ancient people regard the sky as an infinite loop that survives forever, and the earth as a static object that supports everything—they regard the sky as “circle”, and the earth as ”square”.  Tam-tam, being one of the oldest Chinese instruments, first appeared around 200 B.C., also shows a sense of “forever-ness” with its long decay rate and circular shape. This work experiments the resonances through the interplay between different materials and the tam-tam.